Scientists' hack 'the sparrows' brain, teaching them to sing melodies never heard from their parents

The first teacher of all of us is the parent. We learn to speak the language of humankind, starting by mimicking what our parents once said. But imagine that someday, scientists can " hack " into that process.

They can put a child on a laser hat and load the dictionary with it. The child will then speak every language in the world after just one mouse click.

It sounds like something that only happens in science fiction movies, but more and more research is drawing that future closer to us. Most recently, a team from Southwest Texas University successfully transplanted false memories into the zebra sparrow's brain , to teach them to sing unheard tunes from their parents.

Sparrows sing to their children when they are young. And so the stripes will be imitated. Over time, they grow up with the rhymes they learn, and pass it on to their children for generations.

In a way, the song-learning process of sharps is a simpler version of the way we humans develop our voice.

But in a new study, scientists have " hacked " the songbird's song learning process, thereby directly manipulating their brains, teaching the sparrows to sing tunes they never had before. heard from parents.

To do this, scientists used optogenetic , a technique that uses light to stimulate nerve cells in the brain . They chose to " hack " into the area between the brain part that processes what the animal hears and the vocal control.

Optogenetic succeeded in implanting artificial auditory memories into the shrewd brain, and the bird then tried to sing to the tune the scientists wanted.

For example, they used Morse code to teach the sparrow to know the length of the syllables it should sing. The longer the pulse of light acts, the longer the flood will last in syllables and vice versa. The last piece the band sparrows make, is definitely a sound memory implanted in their heads, a tune they have never been taught by an adult sparrow.

However, it must be noted that the melody that the scientists implanted in the wreaking brain is still very simple. It is not as complicated as the melodies that the birds naturally learn from their parents.

The degree of syllables is just one of many factors that make up a melody. Scientists are currently unable to find a part of the brain that can cause factors such as scraping and the order of syllables to "hack" into it.

Professor Todd Roberts is the lead author of the study from Southwest Texas University.

" We can't teach the birds everything they need to know [to sing into a good tune] - but only teach them the time it takes to pronounce the syllables in its song," the professor said. Todd Roberts, lead author of the study, said.

"The two brain regions we tested in this study were only part of the puzzle. But if we could find other avenues, we would be able to teach a bird to sing every tune without any need," he said. interaction with the daddy. But it may take a long time for us to do that. "

Despite this, Professor Roberts's research also marks a breakthrough, for the first time we can effectively transplant memories into the brains of animals. Last year, another team tried to implant false memories into snails, letting them learn how to respond to an unprecedented stimulus.

Repeating these successes in birds is a leap forward, before we can do the same thing on humans. Professor Robert and his team say their work can open up a wide range of research, including finding ways to treat some language disorders for humans.

The research is published in Science.